Twenty-five Chinese steel producers including Baosteel, China's top steel manufacturer, announced price cuts recently.

    Baosteel also lowered its forward steel prices for November delivery by some 500-800 yuan per ton.

    According to the Guangzhou-based South China Metallic Materials Trading Center, the prices of main steel products in the country have declined some 20 percent on average since June this year.

    Analysts predict the downward trend is likely to continue as current slowdown of economic growth can hardly spur demands recovery.

    Last week, the LGMI domestic composite steel index dropped 6.8 percent month on month, but still 21.7 percent higher over a year earlier.

    Industry sources say that as the price dive, growing inventory and weakening demand prompt Chinese producers to cut production, the domestic steel prices may decline further in the rest of the year.

    By September 19, construction steel inventory in the country had mounted up to 2.46 million tons, a figure relatively high as compared with the same period of past years.